Fuselage



- 1,441,984. J. M. H JACOBS. v

- FUSELAGE.

FILED SEPT. 20. 1918- 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

QV/Wm Jammy n Jan. 9, 1923, 1 1,441,984. J. M. H. JACOBS.

FUSELAGE.

FILED SEPRZO. 1918. Z SHtETS- SHEEI J.

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JAMES lllf. H. JACOBS, 01F DAYTON, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNIIEASSIGNMENTS, T DAYTON-WRIGHT COMPANY, OF DAYTON, OHM), A CORPORATION OFDELAWARE.

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Application filed neptember 20, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that T, JAMES M. H. dAcoBs, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Dayton, county of Montgomery, State of Ohio,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fuselages, of whichthe following is a full, clear, and exact description. 7

T his inventlon relates to airplane fuselage construction, and has forits principal object the provision of a fuselage of improvedconstruction which is readily adapted to the modern methods ofinterchangeable manufacture; in which the various sections composing thefuselage can be made separately and thereafter assembled, like partsbeing interchangeable.

ft is a further object of the present invention to reduce the cost ofmanufacture by eliminating so far as possible all of the metal partsusually employed. such as the present wires and turnbuckles which areexpensive both in first cost and in the cost of assembling in thefuselage.

F urthermore, it is an object of this invention to substitute for thebracing wires, bracing members of material other than metal, such aswood or composition material.

Uther and further objects and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following description, reference being had to thedrawings wherein one pre ferred embodiment of the. present invention isclearly shown.

Tn the drawings: Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a fuselageembOdIYIIIg thepresent invention;

Fig. 2 is, a plan view of the bottom section of the fuselage as itwould'look if detached from the longerons.

Fig. 3 is an elevation of one of the'transverse sections of thefuselage;

Fig. 4 is an end view of the section shown in Fig. 3; I

Fig. 5 isa fragmentary elevational view of a portion ofthe sidesection-of the fuselage on an enlarged scale to show the details ofconstruction Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line ti-6 of Fig.5; and

Fig. 7 is an end view of the bottom section, showing the position of thebracing-members relative to each other. I

Referring to the drawing, designates, as a whole, one of the sidesections including $eria1 No. 254,953.

longerons 21 and 22 which are connected together by cross bracingmembers 23, which may be of wood or some other material of a fibrouscomposition.

In the embodiment of the invention shown, particularly in detail in Fig.5, each of the cross' bracing members 23 is made of a plurality oflayers or veneers, three layers 24, 25 and 26 being preferably used, thelayers being so arranged that the grain of any layer runs substantiallyperpendicular to the grain of each adjacent layer. The ends of thebracing members 23 are offset and widened to permit of more securelyconnecting said members, as by nailing, to the longerons 21 and 22.Cooperating with the ends ofthe members 23, where they are attached tothe longerons, and adapted to brace and strengthen the joints are plates27, which tend to more firmly tie these members together. The members 23cross each other as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and may be tied together inany desired manner, as by means of the nails shown in Fig. 5. Both theside sections are structurally like the sections shown in Figs. 1, 5 andt3, and, when in assembled position are connected together by means oftransverse sections 29.

The sections 29,WVhicl1 are located in that part of the fuselageincluded between the planes BB and C-C, are the same in mechanicalconstruction, diflering only in so far as slight variations in size andconfigurasioning rods 34L, of multiply veneer, three plies 35, 36 and 37bein preferably used, the arrangement of the p ies as to their grainbeing the same as-in the members 23. The outer ends of the rods 34 arebifurcated to facilitate the attachment thereof to thestruts 30, 31, 32and-33, the ends of which are notched as a 38, to receive the furcationsof the rods 34;. The bifurcated ends of-the rods 34L, and thecooperating ends of the struts 30, 31,32 and 33, are constructed tosnugly engage the longerons 21 and 22 to permit of easy andfirmattachment of the transverse sections to the longerons.

The bottom section shown in Fig. 2 consists of cross bracing members 4ftwhich llllw B-B and CC. Between lines AA and in Fig. 1, there is no topsection, since top of the fuselage must be open to provide space for theengine and controlling mechanism, and-seats for the passengers.

The other parts of the fuselage generally consist,of a frontsection 50which may be of any desired construction. Struts 51. 52, 53 and 54,having their ends secured to the longerons 21 and 22, and to theconnecting plates 27, are provided to add strength and.

rigidity to the structure. The fuselage may also include enginesupporting beams 55, one of which is shown in Fig. l, extending fromline A-A to the line B--B, connected to the front section 50, struts 51,52, 53 and 54, and tothe; transverse section 29 located at the line B-B.

It is obvious from the foregoing description that the fuselage embodyingthe present invention consists in the main of side sections, top andbottom sections, and transverse sections. Each of. these sections can bereadily assembled from its component parts without any "relation totheother parts ';with which it is to coo eratethe construction of eachof the sections being such as to,

lend itself readily to the modern methods of interchan' eablemanufacture. The sections of the. uselage which are few in number can bequickly assembled to form the complete whole. This operation" beingperformed there are no bracing :wires and turnbuckles to be fitted,since the'bracing mem? bers are already included fas members of thesections composing the fuselage. By eliminating the use of wire bracingmembers, of turnbuckles, and of other metallic connecting members, thehi her initial cost of the metallic parts and t e greater cost arisingfrom assembling a fuselage containing them are reduced, the cost ofmanufacture of the fuselage as a whole being thus greatly reduced.

In addition to the saving in cost and the greater ease of manufacturearising from their use, the wooden braci g members possess a" furtherand decide advantage over wire members,,especially during aerialmilitary operations. I It has been foundthat a bracing member' of woodmay be shot through in a number of places before becom- 1ng sufficientlyweakened to give away. Where a wire or cable bracing member is used,however, a single direct hit from a rifle or machine gun bulletwillcompletely sever. it. And, even where it is not hit a sufficientlydirect blow to sever it, a glancing blow frequently causes suchweakening that shortly breaking of the wire or cable results.

' lVhile the form of mechanism herein shown and described constitutes apreferred form of embodiment of the invention, it is to be understoodthat other forms might be adopted, all coming within the scope of theclaims which follow.

\Vhat I claim is as follows:

1. In an airplane fusela e comprising longerons, a non-metallic iagonalbracehaving widened ends integral therewith for attachment directly to alongeron, withoutthe use of intermediate joints.

2. In an airplane fuselage comprising lon erons and struts. a tensionmember of mu ti-ply veneer, having its end adapted for direct attachmentto a plurality of struts and bifurcated to cooperate with a longeron.

3. In an airplane, a fuselage com rising the combination with aolurality of ongerons and struts; of wood diagonal members of multi-plyveneer, formed to size, and having ends attached to the longerons andstruts so as to act as gussets for the joints between the longerons andstruts.

4. In an airplane. a fuselage comprising the combination with aplurality of longerons and struts; of Wood tension members of multi-plyveneer, formed to size and directly attached to the longerons andstruts;

and metallic plate members adapted to reby struts, and diagonal tiemembers between .the longerons and struts, said tie members beingcomposed of multi le ply veneer and having wide flat ends or attachmentto the longerons and struts and thereby form joints between thelongerons and struts.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

.. JAMES M. H. JACOBS.

Witnesses:

F. O. GLEMENTS, THOMAS MIDGLEY, Jr.

